The location
The Highland Park distillery lies on Mainland, the largest of the Scottish Orkney islands. The Orkneys are located north of the Scottish coast and have most likely been inhabited since the Mesolithic age. In the middle of the 8th century, the Vikings started invading Orkney and eventually used the group of islands as a base for further attacks. This is also the reason why most of today’s Orkney inhabitants are of Norwegian descent.
Highland Park is located in Kirkwall, the largest city on Mainland, which means that it is situated in the Southeast area of the island. Its closeness to the coast results in heavy winds, cool summers and frequent rains with only a little sun. Today, more than 10.000 people live in the small town. Other than Highland Park, the Scapa distillery can be found in Kirkwall as well.
The history of Highland Park
Like many other inhabitants of Orkney, Magnus Eunson, the founder of Highland Park, was a direct descendant of the Vikings who had ruled the island for 600 years. His life as a butcher was apparently not enough for Magnus, who started to distil whisky illegally at the end of the 18th century. 1798 was determined as the official founding date – in reality, however, this is the year in which Magnus’ illegal operation was busted.
The current distillery was built 27 years later by Robert Borwick. It received its licence one year later and stayed in Borwick’s hands until 1869. After several changes of owner, James Grant took over the distillery and expanded it with two stills. It was then acquired by the Highland Distillers Group. Like many other whisky producers, Highland Park had to shut down operations in the middle of the 20th century. This was due to the American Prohibition, which decreased the demand for legally produced whisky, and also due to wars and economic crises.
In the 1980s, the image and the assortment of Highland Park were revised. Since then, the producers have modernized the brand several times, which led to the release of several new, innovative whiskies. Today, the company is part of the Edrington Group.
How is Highland Park Whisky produced?
Today’s Highland Park producers are very dedicated to the roots of the distillery. This is also why the production methods have barely changed since the beginning. The water that is used is taken from the Cattie Maggies quarry, which is supplied by an underground spring. It is also one of the few remaining distilleries with its own malting floor. The malt is torrefied with peat that is covered in heath in kilns that are owned by the distillery. During the production of Highland Park whisky, this peated malt is blended with additional unpeated malt from the mainland.
The Highland Park assortment
Besides a series of standard bottlings with an age of 10 to 50 years, Highland Park offers countless themed whiskies which remind one of the Viking past of the company. The Warrior series, for example, contains several single malt Scotch whiskies that are dedicated to different historical warriors.
Highland Park at Gustero
At Gustero, we offer you a large assortment of high-quality Scotch whisky brands including Glendronach, Talisker, Oban, Bruichladdich, Glenfiddich and, of course, Highland Park. The diverse assortment of Highland Park offers something for both whisky rookies and real connoisseurs. Browse our selection now and discover the aromatic Highland Park!
